Leaders with Ginni Thomas: John McLaughlin, political savant

The verse is a paraphrase of Frank Sinatra, but Democrats in New York’s 9th Congressional District are starting to hum it in spite of themselves: “If we can lose here, we can lose anywhere.”

The September 13 congressional special elections in New York and Nevada were a political earthquake striking the White House and the Democratic Party. Republicans prevailed in both races, including that hostile territory of Chuck Schumer’s old New York City district with its 30 percent Jewish and 32 percent Catholic electorate — and a 3-to-1 Democratic registration advantage.

In Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, Mark Amodei defeated Democratic State Treasurer Kate Marshall by a 58–36 margin. Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin 54–46 in New York’s 9th Congressional District. “We’ve been asked by this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear,” Turner said in his victory speech. “We’ve been told this is a referendum, and we’re ready to say ‘Mr. President, we’re on the wrong track.'”

Last week The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas sat down with John McLaughlin, a respected political consultant who assisted both of these winning campaign teams. John was eager to help Ginni better understand the growing “buyers’ remorse” among Obama voters, the GOP’s emerging opportunities with Jewish voters, the role of New York’s recent law legalizing same-sex marriage, and — of course — why Democrats lost and Republicans won.

—————————-

Why did the Democrats lose the last two special elections? (Part 1)

“They didn’t realize how under water and how negative the perception is of the president, especially based on the economy.”

“They thought that whatever worked for them with Medicare in the last race was going to work in this race. And I don’t think they anticipated the Republican responses in both those races, that we were going to meet them head-on and say ‘we have to save this and protect the program.'”

Did New York’s recent same-sex marriage law impact the New York special election for Republicans?

“It did not sit well with certain religious communities in New York, whether you’re a regular attending churchgoing Catholic, or whether you’re an Orthodox Jew or a Hasidic member of the Jewish faith.”